Tkachuk billboard signs unveiled in Edmonton!

The two-game suspension to Zack Kassian added intensity to the rivalry between the Edmonton Oilers and the Calgary Flames earlier this week. 

As you know, Kassian was the victim of several punishing body checks from Matthew Tkachuk, eventually resulting in an altercation between the two men at the end of the second period. Tkachuk turtled when Kassian grabbed him to fight and the rest is now history.

After Saturday’s game, Mohammad Elsaghir, a diehard Flames fan, felt Kassian and Oilers fans could use more Tkachuk in their lives and decided to start a GoFundMe account to raise $20,000 to erect billboards with the forward’s face “all around the city of Edmonton.”

While he saw it as a joke, Elsaghir was caught by surprise when the money started pouring in.

And so, he hosts of CJAY 92’s CJAY Mornings with Jesse & JD learned of Elsaghir’s idea and arranged to have Bell Media — the company which owns the radio station, as well as several billboards in Edmonton and CTV News – bring the Tkachuk billboards to fruition.

They finally released the “Matthew Tkachuk Friendship Tour” billboard design depicting a mugging Tkachuk in front of a drawing of a heart. The billboards will begin to pop up in Edmonton in the coming days.

The rivalry is doing some good: a decision was made to donate the funds from the GoFundMe campaign to the Snowy Strong for ALS charity. Oilers fans responded to the original billboard idea by starting their own fundraiser benefiting Brown Bagging It, a charity providing lunches to children in need. As of Thursday night, more than $37,000 had been raised through the initiative. 

Well done.